Klášter minoritů v Litoměřicích Monastery

The Minorite monastery is one of the oldest institutions in Litoměřice. It was founded by the Prague Bishop Jan II, who appointed it for the order of minorities - the Franciscan family member movement. According to historian J. Lippert, the monastery with the church of St. James the Elder was built in 1233 when the first three minorities of Italian origin came to town. Among them was Brother Clemens, who became the first quadrant. The oldest mention is documented in 1253 when the brothers Jakub and Jan are reminded of the leader of the community.

The monastery stood in the northeast part of Litoměřice by the city walls and was built according to the order rules of the minorities. The church was deliberately very simple with a long presbytery, and his own convention separated the wall from the city. Out of opacity, a small fortress led from the monastery directly to the chateau ditch. The Minorites lived here modestly, collecting alms and following their rules of order. Over time, however, the community began to become rich in property - references to the monastery from 1339, 1390 and 1409 are known.

At the beginning of the 15th century, the monastery faced the intervention of Hussite wars. In 1421, the Quardian and the Convent held an important meeting of the Catholic Kler, at which the church's present leaders (about 200 people) voiced against the fallen Archbishop. When the Hussites seized Litoměrec, they seized all the monastic property in the area that the minorities had acquired over time at the edge of the city. Yet the community seems to have survived in the monastery, albeit in very tight circumstances. Some reports suggest that only one monk has ever lived in the restoration of the monastery.

In the 16th century, the monastery began to rise again. In 1533 the church of St. James was restored. But the relationship between the minorities and the city remained tense. In 1546, the Minorites had to withdraw part of their land behind the monastery for the establishment of new meat shops.

On February 20th, 1610, the monastery was plundered in the invasion of Pasov troops; The monks escaped in time, but the monastery suffered considerable damage. Катастрофа came during the Czech uprising from 1618-1621, when the town council confiscated the monastery and the church and handed over to local German Protestants. The Minorites either escaped or were killed. The German Protestants then repaired the building quite expensive and used it as their temple.

After the anti-Reformation, representatives of minorities returned to Litomerice. In February 1621 P. Václav z Týnice was introduced as the first minority after a long break. The renewal was also addressed by P. Antonín Barchetti, who was primarily responsible for the repair of the church. But the Quardian Dr. J. Sancius, the Apostolic Commissioner General, did not just settle for the return of assets - in 1622 he demanded compensation from the city and from the German Protestants for the destruction and loss of the community. After the Germans were released from the city, Sancius secured four of their homes as compensation. The monastery suffered with the whole city during the subsequent storms of the Thirty Years' War; In 1631, a new attack destroyed him during the Saxon invasion.

In 1785, the monastery and the church connected to it became property of the Order of Dominicans. Today the ensembles is protected as a cultural monument of the Czech Republic and commemorates the complicated past of Czech Catholicism and Litomeric in the era of religious discord. / p >